Most people with old coins do not need a paid coin appraisal. As of October 2026, a coin dealer will look at a collection and make a verbal offer at no charge, a written appraisal for an estate or insurance usually costs a few hundred dollars, and third-party grading at NGC runs $20-45 per coin for most tiers plus a $10 handling fee. Which one you need depends on what you plan to do with the coins.
The honest starting point: the great majority of inherited coins are common dates worth face value or their silver content. A coffee can of wheat cents, a roll of 1964 quarters and a handful of worn Morgan dollars are worth sorting carefully, but they rarely justify a fee. The money in professional help is for the few coins that might be key dates, errors or uncirculated pieces, and for estates that need a document.
Quick answer
- Dealer verbal look and offer: usually no charge. It is an offer to buy, not an independent value.
- Written appraisal for an estate, insurance or donation: commonly billed hourly or as a flat fee, often a few hundred dollars for a modest collection.
- Grading at NGC as of October 2026: $20 Modern, $25 Economy (coins up to $300), $45 Standard, plus $10 per submission and shipping.
- 90 percent silver US coins are worth about $41 per $1 face value at $58 silver; a common worn Morgan dollar holds about $45 in silver.
How to get coins appraised, step by step
- Sort before anyone sees them. Separate by denomination and date range. US dimes, quarters and halves dated 1964 or earlier are 90 percent silver. Kennedy halves from 1965 to 1970 are 40 percent silver. Cents before 1959 are wheat cents. Anything still in Mint packaging, such as proof sets and mint sets, stays in its packaging.
- Pull the coins worth a second look. Check key dates by series: the 1909-S VDB and 1914-D cents, the 1916-D Mercury dime, the 1937-D three-legged Buffalo nickel, the 1932-D and 1932-S Washington quarters, and any coin that looks uncirculated, with full luster and no wear on the high points. Our coin value guide walks through each series.
- Weigh and count the silver. Add up the face value of the 90 percent silver coins. At $58 silver, each $1 in face value holds about $41 of silver as of October 2026. That number is the floor for the whole group.
- Do not clean anything. Cleaning strips the surface and can cut a collector coin's value by half or more. Collectors and graders spot the fine hairlines at once.
- Decide what you need. If you plan to sell, you need offers. If you need a document for an estate, insurance or a donation, you need a written appraisal from someone who is not buying. If a single coin could be worth hundreds, you may need grading.
- Get two or three dealer offers. Use dealers who belong to the Professional Numismatists Guild or the American Numismatic Association. Ask each to price the coins individually, not just as a lump sum.
- Grade only what earns its fee. Send a coin to NGC or PCGS when its graded value is clearly more than the fee and the shipping, usually a key date, a variety or an uncirculated coin worth $100 or more.
Dealer offer, written appraisal or grading: which do you need?
These three are often confused, and they answer different questions.
| Option | Typical cost, October 2026 | Speed | What you get | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dealer verbal offer | Usually no charge | Same day | A price the dealer will pay you | Selling common coins and silver |
| ANA show or club appraisal table | Usually no charge | Same day | An informal opinion, not binding | A quick second opinion |
| Written appraisal by a numismatist | Hourly or flat fee, often a few hundred dollars | Days to weeks | A signed document with a stated value type | Estates, insurance, divorce, donations |
| NGC grading | $20-45 per coin for most tiers, plus $10 handling and shipping | Weeks | A grade, attribution and sealed holder | Key dates, varieties, uncirculated coins |
| PCGS grading | Tiered per coin, similar in structure to NGC | Weeks | A grade, attribution and sealed holder | Same as NGC; some series sell better in one holder |
| Auction house estimate | No charge | Days | A pre-sale estimate | Collections worth several thousand dollars or more |
NGC's published fee schedule lists the Modern tier at $20 per coin, Economy at $25 for coins worth up to $300, Standard at $45 for coins up to $3,000, and Express at $80 for coins up to $10,000, with a $10 handling fee on every submission. Direct submission requires a paid collector membership, or you can submit through an authorized dealer.
What common inherited coins are worth
Values as of October 2026 at $58 silver, for circulated coins sold to a dealer or at auction.
| Coin | What to check | Typical value |
|---|---|---|
| Wheat cent, common date | 1909 to 1958 | 3-10 cents each |
| Silver dime, 1964 or earlier | Date and the plain silver edge | About $4.20 in silver |
| Silver quarter, 1964 or earlier | Date | About $10.50 in silver |
| Silver half, 1964 or earlier | Date | About $21 in silver |
| Kennedy half, 1965 to 1970 | 40 percent silver | About $8.60 in silver |
| Common Morgan or Peace dollar, worn | Any common date | Silver value plus a small premium, roughly $48-60 |
| 1909-S VDB cent | S below the date, VDB on the reverse | Hundreds to $1,000+ depending on grade |
| US proof or mint set, modern | In original packaging | Many sell for a few dollars over face or silver value |
| Clad coins, 1965 and later | Copper edge | Face value |
Silver is priced per troy ounce. A 90 percent silver dime holds 0.0723 ounces, a quarter 0.1808 and a half dollar 0.3617. A Morgan or Peace dollar holds 0.7734 ounces. Our silver coin value guide has the full melt table.
How to get a fair offer from a coin dealer
A fair offer is one that tracks published wholesale prices and the current silver spot. Dealers buy below retail because they need a margin, and that is normal. What is not normal is a single lump-sum number for a mixed collection with no breakdown.
- Know the silver floor before you walk in. Count face value of 90 percent coins and multiply by about $41. A dealer offer on common silver should land close to that, commonly within a few percent of melt.
- Ask for prices coin by coin on anything that is not common silver. Dealers price numismatic coins from wholesale guides such as the Greysheet. Ask which guide they used.
- Get more than one offer. On the same collection, offers can differ widely. Two or three quotes take an afternoon.
- Choose dealers who answer to a code. The Professional Numismatists Guild requires members to give sound advice to non-professional customers, to avoid misrepresenting value, and to accept binding arbitration of disputes. The ANA's dealer code commits members to buy and sell at prices that give a reasonable return and to give advice to the best of their ability.
- Separate the appraiser from the buyer. If you need an independent value, pay someone who is not bidding. If you only want to sell, a dealer's offer is the right tool.
Coin appraisals for estates
For an estate, the value that matters is fair market value on the date of death. For a federal estate tax return, IRS regulations require an expert appraisal made under oath when household and personal effects, including coin collections, have marked artistic or intrinsic value totalling more than $3,000. Most estates do not file a federal estate tax return, but executors still use a written appraisal to divide coins fairly among heirs and to record the basis for later sales. For a donation of coins worth more than $5,000, the IRS requires a qualified appraisal, and the appraiser's fee cannot be based on the appraised value. Our guide to inherited coins covers the sorting that should come first.
Say you inherit a box of coins
Say you inherit a shoebox: about 400 wheat cents in rolls, $20 face value in silver dimes and quarters dated 1940 to 1964, six worn Morgan dollars with common dates, and a 1964 proof set in its original envelope.
You sort the wheat cents by date and check for 1909-S VDB, 1914-D and 1931-S. None turn up, so they are worth about $12-40 together. The $20 face in silver holds about $830 of silver at $58, and a dealer offer should be in the $780-830 range. The six Morgans hold about $45 of silver each and sell for roughly $48-60 each, so about $290-360. The 1964 proof set holds about 0.61 ounces of silver and sells for roughly $40-50. The box is worth roughly $1,100-1,300 to sell. Nothing in it would gain from grading, so the right move is two or three dealer offers, not a paid appraisal or a grading submission.
Common mistakes
- Paying to grade common coins. A $20-45 fee on a coin worth $10 loses money. Grade only coins whose graded value clearly exceeds the fee.
- Treating a buyer's number as an appraisal. A dealer's offer is what that dealer will pay. It is not an independent value for an estate.
- Cleaning or polishing coins before showing them. Collectors and graders see the hairlines immediately.
- Taking coins out of Mint packaging. Proof and mint sets sell best intact.
- Accepting a lump sum without a breakdown. Ask for prices by coin or by group.
- Pricing from asking prices online. Use sold results from eBay, Heritage and the PCGS and NGC price guides, not listings.
- Assuming old means rare. Most coins from the 1900s were struck by the hundreds of millions.
How WorthPic reads coin photos
WorthPic runs on the newest and most capable AI model available, tuned for exactly this kind of identification. From clear photos of both sides it reads the design to place the series, the date and mint mark, the wear on the high points, and signs of cleaning such as hairlines or an unnatural shine. It checks the date and mint mark against known key dates and listed varieties, and gives an honest value range in US dollars with a most likely figure, including the silver value where the coin has silver. It also says which extra photo would settle a question, such as a close-up of the mint mark. That makes it a quick way to sort a box and decide which coins deserve a dealer's attention.
What it cannot know from a photo is the exact weight, the metal under the surface, or fine details like faint doubling that need magnification. It identifies and estimates. It does not grade, authenticate or appraise, and its estimate is not a document for an estate or an insurer.
What to photograph
- Each side of the coin straight on, filling the frame, in even daylight.
- The date and mint mark close up on any coin you think might be a key date.
- The edge of any coin where silver is in question, since a copper stripe means clad.
- The original packaging of proof and mint sets, with the year visible.
- Rolls and groups laid out by denomination, so the size of a collection is clear.
When to get it looked at in person
Take a coin to a dealer or to an ANA or PNG member when it might be a key date, a known error or variety, an uncirculated coin with full luster, or any gold coin. Use a paid written appraisal when an estate, an insurer, a court or the IRS needs a document. Send a coin to NGC or PCGS when its graded value is clearly more than the fee, and when you sell, our guide to how to sell coins compares dealers, auctions and online sales. For grade language, see the coin grading scale explained.
Sources
- NGC: services and fees: grading tiers, per-coin fees, maximum values and the $10 handling fee.
- Professional Numismatists Guild: code of ethics: member duties on advice, fair pricing and binding arbitration.
- American Numismatic Association: dealer code of ethics: the ANA dealer pledge on reasonable prices and advice.
- 26 CFR 20.2031-6, valuation of household and personal effects: the $3,000 expert appraisal rule for estate tax returns.
- 26 CFR 1.170A-17, qualified appraisals: the rule that a qualified appraisal fee cannot be based on value.